Based on the story just broadcast on the 7.30 Report, the RBA Governor may have been less than fully frank with Parliament and may have failed to report alleged criminal activity to the Federal Police. The ABC website first reported the story as follows:

A memo obtained by the ABC’s 7.30 program shows that senior officials at the Reserve Bank knew of allegations that RBA subsidiary companies were involved in corruption but failed to disclose it to Parliament or the police.

The memo reveals that former deputy governor Ric Battellino was advised of the alleged illegal behaviour at a meeting with a whistleblower in 2007.

The allegations were then detailed in a five-page memo which was sent to Mr Battelino.

Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has previously told Parliament the RBA was unaware of the allegations until they appeared in the media in 2009.

This is simply extraordinary and raises serious questions about the managerial competence of the RBA Governor Glenn Stevens. In the future, the Treasurer at the time should consider appointing an experienced bureaucrat, such as a Treasury Deputy Secretary, rather than an internal RBA candidate to the Governorship.